Improvement in lamps



3 Sheets--Sheet1.

w.1. GORDON & M. w. HOUSE.

Lamp.

No. 132,655. Patented 0m. 29, 1872.

3Sheets--Sh e t2.

W. J. GORDON & M. W. HOUSE.

' Lamp. No. 132,655. Q Patented 06L 29,1872.

- 3Sheets--Sheet3. w.1. GORDON & M. w. HOUSE.

Lamp.

No. 132,655. Patented 0m. 29,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE- WILLIAM J. GORDON AND MARK W. HOUSE, OFCLEVELAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN LAMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,655, dated October29, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J GORDON and MARK WIGGINS Housn, both ofCleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have made aninvention of certain new and useful Improvements in Lamps; and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description and specification ofthe same.

Our invention relates to lamps having a central passage for air frombeneath the oil font or reservoir to the wick; and its objects are toprevent the access of air laterally to this passage at the upper side ofthe font, notwithstanding variations in the fitting of the burner to thefont. To these ends our improvement consists of the combination of theburner of the lamp with an adjustable airscreen, which closes the spacebetween the top of the oil-font and the bottom of the burner, and adaptsitself to the position of the burner relatively to the oil-font.

In order that our invention may be fully understood, we have representedin the accompanying drawing two forms of lamp, one containing the entireinvention, and the other containing the second part of it.

Figure 1 represents a side view of a lamp suitable for connection withan ornamental standard, or'with a bracket. Fig. 2 represents a centralvertical section of the same. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal section ofthe same at the line a; as of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a side view of alow-priced standard lamp. Fig.5 represents a central vertical section ofthe same. Fig.6 represents a plan of the lamp.

The lamp represented at Figs. 1, 2, and 3 has an annular font orreservoir, A, surrounding a central air-passage, B, and provided with awick-feeder, O, to the upper end of which the burner D is screwed. Theburner is provided with a flat wick tube, a, with wickraising mechanism,1), and with a cone, 0. As the screws which connect the burner with thefont are rarely of exactly the same size in all particulars, the screwwill often be too large to enter entirely into the screwed ring at thehead of the wick-feeder 0, while in other cases the screw will readilyenter to its full extent. In order to prevent the access of external airat the top of the font, under these different circumstances, theadjustable air-screen E is provided. This instrument is a ring of sheetmetal fitted to move upon the periphery of the lower part m of theburner, so that it can move thereon and permit the burner to approachmore or less closely to the font, and will nevertheless close the ringspace between the burner and the font. In practice we find it expedientto GOIlIlGOtvthlS screen to the burner by means of a lip, s, whichprevents the screen from dropping off when the burner is removed fromthe font; but such connection is not essential. The oil-font A issupported upon a drip-cup, F. This drip-cup extends across the bottom ofthe font and projects at. its periphery, so that it may receive both theoil which runs down the internal passage B,

and that which runs down the exterior of the font. The rim 9 of thedrip-cup is of larger diameter than the adjacent bottom of the annularfont A, so that an annular space, 0, is left between the two, in whichspace the airpassages n are arranged. These air-passages n (by which airis permitted to enter the dripcup and pass to the internal passage) areformed in a flange, 1', which, in this case, is secured permanently tothe font. They open in an upward direction, and are protected fromlateral currents by the rim g of the drip-cup. Consequently lateralcurrents of air and also vertically-upward currents are prevented fromentering the drip-cup, except as drawn in to supply the upward currentof hot air at the chimney of the lamp. On the other hand, if the lamp beexposed to a vertically-downward current of air, inasmuch as theair-passagee to the drip-cup opens inca-n upward direction, the currenttends to enter the air-passages a just as forcibly as it does thechimney of the lamp; hence the tendency to enter at one place iscounteracted by the tendency to enter at the other, and the practicalresult is that the current does not injurious] y affect theflame. Inthis example of the invention, the flange 1* is permanently secured tothe oil-font, and the font is connected with the drip-cup by a duplexbayonet-clutch, the pins av 00 being secured 4 to the drip-cup at itsopposite sides, and the slots being formed in a rim, 2, of the flange r.The engagement of the pins in the slots is insured by a frictionalspring-catch, h. In the form of lamp represented at Figs. 4, 5, and 6,the flange r, in which the openings are made, is secured permanently bysoldering to .both

the font A and to the drip-cup F, which last may be fitted with a burnerthe same as that represented at Figs. 1 and 2.

We are aware that lamp-fonts have been combined with exterior caseswhich inclose the upright sides of the font, extending upward to the topthereof, so that air entering the case can enter only at the peripheryof the top of the font, the sides of the case preventing the access ofair at any other place. The said construction renders it practicallyimpossible to apply the case to a font having an ornamental profile,such as that of the lamp-font represented at Figs. 1 and 2. It alsorequires the use of more material for the construction of thecylindrical sides of the case than for the construction of thecylindrical sides of the font. According to our invention the drip-cupis shallow as compared with the height of the font, and does notconstitute a case which incloses the upright cylindrical sides of thefont, consequently the font being exposed and uninclosed may have anydesirable form, and the drip-cup being shallow requires but a smallamount of material for its construction.

We claim as the invention, to be secured by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination of the burner of the lamp with an adjustable air-screen toclose the space between the lower part of the burner rigid the font,substantially as before set fort 2. Also, the combination of the annularoilfont of the lamp, the burner, and the adjustable air-screen,substantially as before set forth.

Witness our hands this 30th day of June,

W. J. GORDON. M. W. HOUSE.

Witnesses:

M. R. KEITH, F. M. KEITH, Jr.

